Obviously a film that stands as a classic, as well as one of the best films from director Stanley Kubrick, "2001" remains a masterpiece today, a film whose artistry and detail are still magnificent considering the film's age. The film opens with the "Dawn Of Man" sequence, where apes rule the planet, simply searching for enough food to survive. Coming upon a towering black monolith, the apes begin to learn to use tools not only for food, but for fighting.

Zoom ahead thousands of years, and man has not only taken over Earth, but also ventured into space. Dr. Heywood Floyd (William Sylvester) is heading a manned mission to the moon, where a giant monolith has been discovered below the surface, buried almost as if on purpose. Not only that, but it seems as if the object is beaming a signal towards Jupiter.

The film skips towards a crew headed to check out another monolith near Jupiter. Dave Bowman (Dullea), and Frank Poole (Lockwood) are the crew members, but they're not alone. Along for the ride is HAL 9000 a super-intelligent computer that essentially does a good deal of the humans work for them, making them feel insignificant. The film is slow and detailed, deliberately paced and almost calming in the same way that I felt "Cast Away"'s middle part was calming last year, although I don't mean to compare the two pictures. There's a silence, a peacefulness, almost meditative, that is entirely missing from many of today's films. Dialogue is minimal and the classical music score (as well as HAL's eerily calming voice) put us at peace.

Again, Kubrick's visual effects still stand up particularly well today - in fact, if you consider the film's age, I would think that the film would be considered as amazing visually as things could get at that time; even today, nothing looks fake or phony and their somewhat primitive nature in comparison to what's available today actually only helps the movie to feel more realistic.

The film is a marvel and a classic, but the real question is likely what the new DVD includes, so...